Shark Valley is not a valley and, as far as anyone knows, has no sharks to speak of. The name belongs to the Shark River Slough, a shallow, slow-moving sheet of water that flows imperceptibly south-west across the Everglades toward the Gulf, and at this point on the Tamiami Trail you can walk, cycle or ride a tram into the middle of it. It is part of what Marjory Stoneman Douglas famously called the river of grass, a river fifty miles wide and an inch or two deep that moves only a few hundred feet a day.
The loop road at Shark Valley is fifteen miles around, paved, flat, and closed to private cars, which means motorcycles stay in the car park, but you can hire a bicycle or take the tram. It is worth it. Alligators lie on the banks by the dozen, wading birds feed in the shallows, and the observation tower at the far end gives a view over a landscape so flat that a sixty-five-foot concrete tower seems tall. The light on the sawgrass, which is not a grass but a sedge, is silver in the morning and golden in the evening. In the dry season, from about December to April, wildlife gathers around the remaining water and the viewing is best. In the wet summer months, mosquitoes and thunderstorms take over.
The Tamiami Trail itself is a historical curiosity. It was built between 1915 and 1928, by crews who dredged a canal through the limestone and drove the road across the swamp to link Tampa and Miami, hence the name. It was an extraordinary, difficult feat that changed the Everglades by interrupting the flow of water, a cost still being measured and partly repaired by bridging sections. For a rider, it is a straight, flat, hot road with very little to do but keep the speed down, stay awake, and watch for turtles and alligators crossing, and the odd airboat trailer. Winter mornings are the most comfortable.
The area is also the home of the Miccosukee, who have lived here since the Seminole wars, and who run a village and restaurant along the road. Fuel is the practical worry. The nearest large towns are on the Miami side, around thirty kilometres east, so fill up before you come. Bring water and insect repellent, and expect to pay a park entry fee.